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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29541552">according to science</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/'>Anonymous</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Mutual Pining, TeruShou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:21:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,494</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29541552</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Suguru? Can I hold your hand?”</p><p>Daishou would have liked to reply, but his vocal cords had suddenly ceased to function. Maybe it was because Terushima had used his first name, maybe it was because Terushima was still holding onto him, or maybe it was because in that moment, Daishou was very, very gay.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daishou Suguru/Terushima Yuuji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Anonymous</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. part one</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>a terushou college au! enjoy :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Daishou Suguru signed up for his college’s annual science contest, he hoped that he would be paired with one of the more academic students. Someone who would do the majority of the work so that Daishou could get extra credit with minimal effort. Someone like Kuroo Tetsurou.</p><p>As much as Daishou didn’t like him, he would be lying if he said Kuroo wasn’t smart. Kuroo was intelligent, and it was the kind of stubborn intelligence that made him take full responsibility for the work as he didn’t trust anyone else enough to do it. This arrangement had worked well last year; they had come second overall and all Daishou had to do was print out some paper and buy Kuroo food sometimes.</p><p>Daishou knew it was unlikely that he and Kuroo would be working together again. Still, he hoped that his partner would be someone of Kuroo’s calibre.</p><p>He opened the email that his professor had sent and scrolled down the attached spreadsheet until he found his name, and next to it, his partner’s.</p><p>Terushima Yuuji.</p><p>The spreadsheet informed Daishou that Terushima was a first year. He squinted at his phone screen, wondering if it was a mistake. Having to work with a first year on a serious project would be annoying.</p><p>Terushima’s email address was listed next to his name, so Daishou sent him a message.</p><p>From: Daishou<br/>
To: yuuji!!<br/>
It appears that you are my project partner. Please contact your professor so that this mistake can be rectified.</p><p>Not even a minute had passed before Daishou received a reply.</p><p>From: yuuji!!<br/>
To: Daishou<br/>
a mistake??? what do u mean</p><p>From: Daishou<br/>
To: yuuji!!<br/>
you’re a first year, correct? we’re supposed to be partnered with people in the same year as us.</p><p>From: yuuji!!<br/>
To: Daishou<br/>
ahhhhhah well i guess im smart enough so that it dont matter. ive always been in advanced classes</p><p>From: Daishou<br/>
To: yuuji!!<br/>
*doesn’t</p><p>From: yuuji!!<br/>
To: Daishou<br/>
doesn’t what???</p><p>From: Daishou<br/>
To: yuuji!!<br/>
it doesn’t matter</p><p>From: yuuji!!<br/>
To: Daishou<br/>
if it doesn’t matter, then why are we talking about it???</p><p>Daishou clenched his jaw, but before he could think of a snarky response, another email came through.</p><p>From: yuuji!!<br/>
To: Daishou<br/>
i kinda already have an idea abt what we could do, u can meet me in the east cafe tmrw at 4 if that’s ok?</p><p>From: Daishou<br/>
To: yuuji!!<br/>
fine.</p><p>It would be easier to have this conversation in person.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. part two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The east cafe was fairly busy after classes had ended, yet Daishou managed to save a table for two for him and Terushima. He ordered a coffee to pass the time and waited for his partner to arrive.</p><p>The clock had almost reached four pm, so Daishou was ready to send a gloating email to Terushima about his lateness when the cafe door swung open and someone came in. They looked around the cafe before their eyes settled on Daishou and they smirked.<br/>“Hey, Shou!”</p><p>“Terushima?”</p><p>“The one and only!”</p><p>Terushima approached Daishou’s table and flopped onto the chair opposite. Daishou cleared his throat.<br/>“How did you know what I looked like?”</p><p>Terushima shrugged.<br/>“I stalked you online to find your social media.”</p><p>“You what?”</p><p>“We’re gonna be working together, right? I had to be prepared.”</p><p>Daishou sniffed.<br/>“We’re meeting today to talk about how we will not be-”</p><p>“So I’ve taken the liberty of coming up with a few ideas.” Terushima slammed a folder on their table and Daishou leaned forward, his earlier words forgotten.</p><p>“Keep going.”</p><p>“This year we have to do a presentation or whatever, and it gets judged and that’s how the winner is decided.”</p><p>“I see.”</p><p>“There’s no set guidelines on what it has to be about, so do you have any ideas?”</p><p>Daishou read through what Terushima had written. while his handwriting wasn’t perfect, it was surprisingly neat, which he hadn’t expected. The notes consisted of potential ideas and Daishou had to admire Terushima’s creativity; had he been working alone, Daishou would likely have done the presentation on something as simple as photosynthesis.</p><p>“Your ideas look fine,” Daishou said. This was going better than he had hoped. At this rate, Terushima would do the entire thing.</p><p>“Any particular ones that you like?” Terushima pressed, looking at Daishou suspiciously. “I wanna hear your input.”</p><p>“I’m fine with anything. I don't really have a preference about science and stuff.”</p><p>“You know, It kinda feels like you’re letting me do all the work.” Terushima grinned as he spoke, and Daishou spied a piercing on his tongue. Cute, he thought.</p><p>That thought was banished as quickly as it appeared.</p><p>“I mean, if you want to do all the work-”</p><p>“I don’t.” Terushima paused, before laughing lightly. “It’s okay, I’m used to people using me for work.”</p><p>“That wasn’t my intention,” Daishou lied. Terushima simply shrugged.</p><p>“Whatever. Just choose one of these.”</p><p>“Something about astronomy,” Daishou suggested and Terushima nodded in agreement.</p><p>“Now that’s out of the way, we need to come up with a schedule.” Before Daishou said anything, Terushima spoke again. “We have two weeks starting on Monday, so how about we meet on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays in the evening?”</p><p>Daishou pursed his lips.<br/>“Are you sure you’re free on Saturdays?”</p><p>“Yeah! Why wouldn’t I be?”</p><p>“You look like you should be spending your Saturday evenings drunk in someone’s living room.”</p><p>“And you look like you should be spending your Saturday evenings in a reptile zoo, but yeah.”</p><p>They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Daishou laughed.<br/>“That was a good one.”</p><p>“Thanks.”</p><p>“I’ll have to use that sometime.” Daishou scratched his chin. “Where is it that roosters live? Chicken coops?”</p><p>“Yeah, coops.”</p><p>Daishou offered his hand and Terushima held it in a firm grip.<br/>“I look forward to working with you,” Daishou said.</p><p>“The same to you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They met at Terushima’s place on Tuesday evening. Daishou examined his room. It wasn’t organised, but it wasn’t a mess either. Terushima had posters decorating his walls and what looked like a cactus on a table.</p><p>“Is that a cactus?”</p><p>“It’s an onion.” Daishou peered closer and Terushima laughed. “It’s clearly a cactus.”</p><p>“Hm.”</p><p>Terushima gestured towards the table.<br/>“Are you ready to start?”</p><p>“Let’s get this over with.”</p><p>They sat down. Terushima brought out a notebook, his pen poised over the paper.<br/>“So how much do you already know?” </p><p>“About what?”</p><p>“Astronomy, duh.” Terushima rolled his eyes. “You chose this topic, so you better have some knowledge.” He leaned back on his chair and stretched his arms above his head so his shirt lifted slightly, allowing Daishou to glimpse at a well defined v-line. Terushima snickered.</p><p>“Like what you see?”</p><p>“Shut up,” Daishou snapped. “And I know some things. Let’s start.”</p><p>They began to plan their presentation, both contributing ideas which Terushima wrote down. By the time they had finished, it was dark outside. Daishou glanced out of the window and furrowed his brow.<br/>“It’s already late.”</p><p>“If you’re expecting me to let you stay the night-”</p><p>“What? No? I was trying to make conversation.” </p><p>“And it worked! We conversed.”</p><p>“That’s not a word.”</p><p>“Yes it is.”</p><p>“No it’s not.”</p><p>“Yes it is.”</p><p>“Prove it.”</p><p>Terushima tapped at his phone screen and turned it towards Daishou’s face, showing him a Google search.<br/>“See! I was right!”</p><p>“Hm.” Daishou nodded in defeat. “How did you know that?”</p><p>“I used to study etymology.”</p><p>Daishou raised an eyebrow.<br/>“You? Etymology? Why?”</p><p>“For fun! Why else would I study anything?”</p><p>It occurred to Daishou that he had greatly misjudged Terushima. At first, he had taken him to be a typical delinquent, who did the bare minimum in classes and caused trouble for others. But after meeting him, Terushima had turned out to be rather dependable; the sort of person that Daishou liked.</p><p>“Oi, Daishou. What are you thinking about?”</p><p>Daishou blinked out of his trance and wrinkled his nose.<br/>“Just school stuff. I’m going now.”</p><p>“Aye. See you Thursday then.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. part four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Thursday came around too quickly for Daishou’s liking. Before he knew it, he was back in Terushima’s room, making notes about hydrogen gas and nebulae.</p><p>“Hey, Suguru.” Terushima nudged him to get his attention. “You know the presentation?”</p><p>“Presentation? What presentation? Never heard of it. It’s not like i’m sacrificing hours of my life working on-”</p><p>“Who’s gonna do the talking bit?”</p><p>Daishou shrugged.<br/>“Who’s the best at speaking?”</p><p>“I think it should be you, seeing as you never shut up.”</p><p>“I don’t want to.”</p><p>They stared at each other, Terushima raising an eyebrow.<br/>“Rock paper scissors.”</p><p>“How old are you?”</p><p>“Come on! It’s the only fair way.”</p><p>“There are several other ways of settling this.”</p><p>“Yeah, but this is fun.”</p><p>“Fine.”</p><p>Terushima lifted his fist and Daishou did the same.<br/>“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”</p><p>Daishou had chosen rock and Terushima held his hand up proudly; paper.</p><p>“I win!”</p><p>“If you think about it logically, that makes no sense.”</p><p>“Whaddya mean?”</p><p>“In a practical situation, rock would be able to beat paper.”</p><p>“You must be fun at parties.”</p><p>“You know i’m right.”</p><p>“Actually-” Terushima placed his hand on top of Daishou’s. “Paper wins because it covers rock.” He wrapped both of his hands around Daishou’s closed fist, squeezing it tightly.  His hands were warm and soft, and there was a surprising gentleness to them. “See?”</p><p>“I... I see.”</p><p>“What’s wrong?”</p><p>“You’re holding my hand.” Daishou’s voice was pointed, but Terushima’s laugh quickly dispelled any tension.</p><p>“You don’t want me to hold your hand?”</p><p>“I mean, I’d prefer it if you’d asked-”</p><p>“Suguru? Can I hold your hand?”</p><p>Daishou would have liked to reply, but his vocal cords had suddenly ceased to function. Maybe it was because Terushima had used his first name, maybe it was because Terushima was still holding onto him, or maybe it was because in that moment, Daishou was very, very gay.</p><p>“Suguru?”</p><p>“You can hold my hand, Only if you agree to do the speaking.”</p><p>Terushima tilted his head back and groaned, but conceded nonetheless.<br/>“Alright, alright. I’ll do it.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. part five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Terushima had oddly soft shoulders.</p><p>Daishou discovered this almost two weeks after the hand-holding event. Their next sessions had passed without major incident, but Daishou found himself staying later and later, not wanting to leave Terushima’s company. </p><p>On this occasion, he was sitting next to Terushima and drifted off for a few seconds, his head falling to the side and nestling in the crook of terushima’s neck. He had jerked it upright immediately, causing Terushima to laugh.</p><p>“Are you tired?”</p><p>Daishou grunted.<br/>“I guess so. We’ve been working for a while.”</p><p>“Then take a break! Come on, let’s forget about the project for now and just relax.”</p><p>Daishou closed the book he had been taking notes from and settled back onto the sofa, watching Terushima out of the corner of his eye. He was writing something, with his tongue peeking out of his mouth in concentration.</p><p>“Hey, Terushima?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“What’s it like, having a tongue piercing?”</p><p>“You get used to it, I guess.”</p><p>“Does it not taste weird?”</p><p>“Not anymore.” Terushima smirked and leaned closer. “I mean, you could taste it if you want-”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“You’re funny, Su.”</p><p>“Thanks. I guess.”</p><p>“You’re cute as well.”</p><p>“Really?” Daishou asked dryly. “You’re being extra nice today.”</p><p>“I’m just instilling confidence! Gotta hype you up for tomorrow.”</p><p>“You’re the one doing the actual presentation, so I'd argue that you need the confidence more.”</p><p>“I don’t need confidence when I’ve got you by my side.”</p><p>Daishou coughed.<br/>“I’m flattered.”</p><p>“Good! Anyway, we’re almost done, so you can just leave it and I’ll finish it off.”</p><p>“You want me to leave already?”</p><p>“You can stay if you want.”</p><p>“Do you want me to?”</p><p>Terushima nodded, a grin pulling at his mouth.<br/>“Yeah. I want you to stay with me.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. part six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the day of the contest. Daishou had left Terushima’s room at past midnight that morning, and would have stayed longer if they hadn’t needed to wake up early. He met Terushima outside of the main auditorium.</p><p>“Got everything we need?” he asked through a yawn.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. Actually, I made a couple of changes to my speech.”</p><p>Daishou nodded to acknowledge he had heard Terushima, and they made their way inside, sitting down with the rest of the participating students. After a short introduction from one of the faculty members, it began.</p><p>The first people to present were some first years, Akaashi Keiji and Kozume Kenma. While their presentation was informative, there was nothing particularly memorable about it.</p><p>“I’d say we’ve got a good chance,” Terushima whispered to him. “Everyone else’s looks basic.”</p><p>Daishou hummed.</p><p>A few more people went. Daishou curled his lip as Kuroo performed a live experiment that the judges marvelled at. Kuroo’s partner, some white-haired guy, beamed as he watched, despite playing no part whatsoever in the actual experiment.</p><p>“Next is, Daishou Suguru and Terushima yuuji.”</p><p>“You ready?” Terushima asked. Daishou nodded.</p><p>They placed their written work on the judges’ desk and took the stage. After a brief introduction, Terushima started.</p><p>“We are here today to educate you all about space, which is arguably the most interesting thing out there and way better than chemistry or whatever.”</p><p>That hadn’t been in the script, but Daishou assumed that was the change Terushima had referred to.</p><p>"According to science, the heaviest things in the universe are neutron stars, which are formed when stars die." Terushima glanced at daishou, who gave him a thumbs up to indicate that everything was going well. "And the most attractive things are black holes, with a gravitational pull so strong that not even light can escape."</p><p>"But-" Terushima had the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. "I think science is wrong."</p><p>A mutter rippled through the audience and Daishou brought a hand to his face as if to hide himself.</p><p>"Because according to me, the most attractive thing in the universe is that man over there."</p><p>Daishou looked up and it took a second for him to notice that Terushima was pointing in his direction. He was too surprised to say anything, so he stood there, dumbstruck, as the crowd's attention turned to him.</p><p>"And according to my heart, the heaviest thing is the weight of the love that I feel for him."</p><p>The room was silent for a moment, and then a single person started to clap. Another person joined in, and in a matter of seconds half the people present were engaged in slow, hesitant applause.</p><p>Terushima cheered.<br/>"I love you!"</p><p>He bounded up to the side of the stage where Daishou was standing and wrapped his arms around him, tongue piercing flashing as he laughed.<br/>"How did I do?"</p><p>Daishou smiled.<br/>"You did great. though-" He broke off to look at the judging panel, who were making notes. "I don't think we'll win."</p><p>"Don't matter." Terushima's grin didn't fade. "I already won the best prize possible."</p><p>"What's that?"</p><p>"Your heart."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>the second hand embarrassment i got while writing this,,, anyway they're very much in love.</p><p>thank you for reading! comments and kudos appreciated</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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